The east side of Bowman Field airport was expanded in 1940 to become the Bowman Field Air Base, a training facility with 124 buildings used by the U.S. Army Air Force throughout World War II. One hangar survives. Bowman Field was first used to train bomber crews and later was assigned to the first troop carrier command. Troop carrier units were organized and combat glider pilots trained there. From 1942 to 1944, the only school of Air Evacuation in the Air Force was there, teaching surgeons, flight nurses, and medical technicians procedures for the care of patients in the air. Some gave their lives caring for sick and wounded soldiers worldwide.
